diff --git a/nimble/host/src/ble_gap.c b/nimble/host/src/ble_gap.c
index b49461393..80bfa7a04 100644
--- a/nimble/host/src/ble_gap.c
+++ b/nimble/host/src/ble_gap.c
@@ -2620,6 +2620,9 @@ ble_gap_update_entry_free(struct ble_gap_update_entry *entry)
     int rc;
 
     if (entry != NULL) {
+#if MYNEWT_VAL(BLE_HS_DEBUG)
+        memset(entry, 0xff, sizeof *entry);
+#endif
         rc = os_memblock_put(&ble_gap_update_entry_pool, entry);
         BLE_HS_DBG_ASSERT_EVAL(rc == 0);
     }
@@ -2928,8 +2931,6 @@ done:
     if (rc == 0) {
         ble_hs_timer_resched();
     } else {
-        ble_gap_update_entry_free(entry);
-
         /* If the l2cap_params struct is populated, the only error is that the
          * controller doesn't support the connection parameters request
          * procedure.  In this case, fallback to the L2CAP update procedure.
@@ -2945,6 +2946,7 @@ done:
     if (rc == 0) {
         SLIST_INSERT_HEAD(&ble_gap_update_entries, entry, next);
     } else {
+        ble_gap_update_entry_free(entry);
         STATS_INC(ble_gap_stats, update_fail);
     }
     ble_hs_unlock();
diff --git a/nimble/host/test/src/ble_gap_test.c b/nimble/host/test/src/ble_gap_test.c
index 8471d5b70..d161ad918 100644
--- a/nimble/host/test/src/ble_gap_test.c
+++ b/nimble/host/test/src/ble_gap_test.c
@@ -1854,6 +1854,15 @@ ble_gap_test_util_update_l2cap(struct ble_gap_upd_params *params,
 
     TEST_ASSERT(ble_gap_dbg_update_active(2));
 
+    /* Attempt two duplicate updates; ensure BLE_HS_EALREADY gets returned
+     * both times.  Make sure initial update still completes successfully
+     * (MYNEWT-702).
+     */
+    rc = ble_hs_test_util_conn_update(2, params, 0);
+    TEST_ASSERT(rc == BLE_HS_EALREADY);
+    rc = ble_hs_test_util_conn_update(2, params, 0);
+    TEST_ASSERT(rc == BLE_HS_EALREADY);
+
     l2cap_params.itvl_min = params->itvl_min;
     l2cap_params.itvl_max = params->itvl_max;
     l2cap_params.slave_latency = params->latency;